Over the years, people have lit candles in a number of ways including the use of tapers and matches. Traditional style candles are not very hard to light as one may simply hold a match to the side of the wick. Jar type candles, on the other hand, have wicks which are recessed below the rim of the jar and are difficult to light using a regular match as one can burn ones' fingers doing so. Long fireplace style matches may be used to light this type of candle but these matches are expensive and can leave small pieces of burned wood or carbon in the candle wax. Jar type candles are more easily and safely ignited by using a butane lighter having an elongated flame proof barrel made from metal.
Hundreds of years ago, castles and other buildings had large wall-mounted candles for illumination and not so long ago, most towns had kerosene street lamps. These were regularly lit and extinguished using long sticks that could retain a burning taper to light the candle or lamp and included an extinguishing cap to snuff out the flame.
A number of other devices are known in the art for both igniting a candle flame and extinguishing the same. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,740,623 to Payne discloses a device which includes a candle lighter and an extinguisher. The device has a telescoping handle that includes a region through which a taper is threaded. A mechanism is provided for feeding the taper through the tube. The device further includes a bell-shaped region that is placed over the end of the candle to extinguish the burning wick.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,785,556 to Smith discloses a device that is used for lighting and extinguishing altar candles. The device includes a tube through which a taper is threaded and a support having a bell at one end for extinguishing a flame. A second tube extends through the support from the bell to a container used to hold a quantity of a flammable liquid, such as lighter fluid. The user depresses a trigger to release a valve and thereby permit a specified quantity of the flammable liquid to flow through the second tube from the container to the bell region. The bell is positioned over the candle wick and the flammable liquid fluid is dispensed thereover. When the trigger is released, the flow of liquid is halted. The device is partially rotated and the taper is used to light the candle. Later, the bell may be used to extinguish the candle. In one embodiment of the invention, shown in FIGS. 6-9, when the mechanism for dispensing flammable liquid over the candle wick is released, it actuates a second mechanism which ignites the liquid on the wick. Because of the structure of the igniting mechanism, the bell cannot be provided adjacent the tube that dispenses the flammable liquid. Instead, a second container is provided that holds a quantity of compressed carbon dioxide or other similar gas. A third tube connects the second container to the support and a separate actuator is used to dispense the carbon dioxide to extinguish a flame.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,492 to Nunemaker discloses a device having a straight shaft with a candle extinguisher at one end and a holder for a safety match at the other end. The extinguisher is, once again, a bell-shaped region that is placed over the top of the candle. The device is rotated to use the two different elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,309 to Phare discloses a generally Y-shaped shaft with a bell type extinguisher on a first arm of the Y and a member for holding a taper on the second arm thereof. The device further includes a squeeze bulb at the other end of the shaft for directing air into the second arm.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,466 to Reese, discloses a butane type lighter having an elongated flame proof barrel that is used to light a candle. The barrel is extendable in length. The lighter includes a pivotable bell-shaped region at the opposite end of the device from the barrel. The bell-shaped region is, once again, used to extinguish flames. One of the issues with this lighter is that the bell-shaped extinguisher is positioned adjacent the container of fuel. The user has to place the fuel-filled container next to the burning flame in order to extinguish the same. Obviously, this creates a safety issue for the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,497,683 to Benson discloses a device that has a candle lighting area at one end and a candle extinguishing area at the other end. The lighting area includes a pair of cooperating jaws that are used to clamp a safety match therein between. The extinguishing area once again comprises a bell-shaped region that is placed over the end of the candle to deprive the burning wick of oxygen.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D330,784 to Zuffoletti shows a lighter having an elongated, generally Y-shaped shaft with a bell-shaped extinguisher on one arm and a region for lighting a candle on the other arm. The shaft extends outwardly from a body that presumably contains a fuel source. When a candle is to be lit, a trigger is depressed to allow fuel to flow to the region for lighting the candle. The device is rotated to permit the bell-shaped region to be positioned on the top of a candle to extinguish a burning wick.
There are devices other than bell-shaped members known in the art for extinguishing burning candle wicks. A number of these other devices include two opposing plates that are moved toward each other to clamp a burning wick between them and thereby extinguish the flame. A first one of these snuffer type devices is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 940,832 to Swoger. Swoger discloses an elongated handle with two plate-like surfaces pivotally mounted at one end of the handle. The plates are biased by a spring into a position where they are separated from each other. A string connected to the plates is pulled downwardly to move the plates toward each other. The user positions the plates on either side of a burning candle wick and pulls on the string so that the plates clamp the burning wick between them and thereby extinguishes the flame.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,737 to Ray discloses a tong type member that includes two opposing faces that may be moved toward each other to clamp a burning wick between them. The faces are provided with surfaces that may be wetted so as to more quickly and easily snuff out a burning wick.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,435,858 to Cormier et al discloses a tong type snuffer having two faces that are simply brought toward each other to clamp a burning wick between them.
U.S. Publication 2005/0032011 to Chapman discloses a combination lighter and snuffer where the snuffer includes a tong type device that is similar to that disclosed by Cormier above. The device also includes a holder that is shaped to receive a disposable lighter therein. The lighter holder is at the opposite end of the device from the snuffer. The lighter holder includes a mechanism for retaining the lighter within the holder. It is unclear from the patent if the lighter is removed from the holder to light a candle or if the lighter is ignited while still in the holder.
U.S. Publication No. 2005/0287486 to Yates et al discloses tongs that have cup-like chambers on opposing jaws of the tongs. The jaws are brought together to enclose the chambers about the burning wick to deprive the same of oxygen and thereby extinguish the flame.
Matches are currently used less frequently to light fires, barbeques or candles than in previous times. Instead, the most popular type of device used as a lighter is one that has a body with a chamber containing butane gas, an elongated flame proof barrel extending outwardly from the body and a trigger type mechanism for dispensing and igniting fuel flowing out of the chamber. These lighters are favored because the flame proof barrel allows the person to position their hand a remote distance from the materials being ignited. The lighters are thus safer to use than smaller tubular type lighters. As the patent to Reese (U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,466) has disclosed, it is known to provide elongated barrel lighters with some type of extinguisher. However, the present inventor has recognized that the positioning of the extinguisher on the Reese lighter creates a safety hazard in that the extinguisher is disposed adjacent the fuel source. Simply positioning the extinguisher on the barrel creates two issues. Firstly, the extinguisher could prevent the barrel from being inserted into confined spaces, such as into the interior of a jar-type candle. Secondly, if the extinguisher is positioned so that the barrel can be inserted into confined spaces, the extinguisher itself could interfere with the flame produced by the barrel and could therefore render the device less useful.
There is therefore a need in the art for an improved device that enables a person to light and to extinguish a candle, where the extinguisher on the device is positioned away from a fuel source on the device but still enables the barrel to be inserted into confined spaces without interfering with the flame produced by the device.